SAN ANGELO, Texas—Southern Nazarene kicked their season off with a pair of matches in San Angelo, Texas at the Kathleen Brasfield Invitational on Friday afternoon. In game one, SNU fell to No. 13 Angelo State 3-0, but bounced back with their own 3-0 win over New Mexico Highlands in game two.
Match 1:
The Crimson Storm faced a tall task in their first match of the season, taking on the national preseason No. 13 Belles of Angelo State. They put up a fight all game, but ASU proved their ranking, taking the match in three sets (25-17, 25-23, 25-23).
Angelo State came out with a flury in set one, jumping out to a 12-5 lead. SNU slimmed the lead a bit to 20-16, but Angelo State rattled off four points to take it to set point and eventually win that first set 25-17. They hit .342 in set one and finished the match hitting a very solid .299.
The second and third sets were not so easy for Angelo State as the Crimson Storm showed their grit. SNU kept the second set tight and eventually grabbed a 15-13 lead following a 6-0 run. The Storm then found themselves up 22-21 late in the second set, but a 4-1 swing in favor of the Belles allowed ASU to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
SNU was sensational on the offensive end in the third set and appeared to be on their way to forcing a fourth set in the match. The Storm hit .351 in the third set, collecting 15 kills to just 2 errors. Unfortunately for SNU, Angelo State's offense was nearly just as effective. The Belles hit .341 in the third set on 18 kills. Southern Nazarene built a 15-9 lead, but Angelo State rattled off 10 of the next 14 points to knot things at 19 a side. The teams then traded points to a 23-23 tie, but ASU then notched the final two kills to seal the match win.
Sunny Batschelett, Shantalle Demirjian, and Whitney Bowie each tied for the team lead with 7 kills.
Kaley Brubaker took the majority of the action at the setter position as she racked up a career-high 25 assists and 8 digs.
Match 2:
Things went much more smoothly for the Crimson Storm in the second match of the day. They cruised to a 3-0 win (25-13, 25-16, 25-22) over New Mexico Highlands for their first win of the year. SNU was dominant offensively all match, hitting over .300 all three sets to the tune of a .339 hitting percentage for the match. That mark was higher than any match for SNU last season.
Southern Nazarene took control of the match early, ratting off eight consecutive points in the first set that pushed them to a 14-6 advantage. They used that run to propel them to an easy 25-13 set one win.
SNU again built a significant advantage in the second game with a 16-9 lead. Highlands cut into the lead a bit, but never threatened the Storm from taking the set as SNU won 25-16 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
New Mexico Highlands's offense picked up in the third set as they pushed the Storm late, but SNU was able to fend off a pesky Cowgirl squad with a 25-22 win in set three. Kaley Brubaker finished things off with her third kill of the match to go along with her again career-high 35 assists.
Whitney Bowie became the first Crimson Storm member this season to reach double-digit kills, earning 11 in the match. Sunny Batschelett and Shantalle Demirjian were not far behind, collecting 9 a piece.
Madeline Lynch led the way defensively, collecting 12 digs in the match.
Southern Nazarene will be back in action early tomorrow morning with two more matches at the Kathleen Brasfield Invitational. They take on Texas A&M Kingsville at 8:00 a.m. and will then have a little break before battling Colorado State-Pueblo at 2:00 p.m.
